Page 95 of The Knight
She jumped out of the car and ran to Asta, taking her silver-gloved hands in hers. “Asta. It’s so good to see you.”
“You too, Freya.” Asta’s sharp eyes sparkled, her lips curving upward. “Those men—I made sure they couldn’t follow you, heh?”
Freya hugged her tightly, the relief of feeling her friend safe and well making her a little giddy. “You did amazing, Asta. But you shouldn’t have to put yourself at risk like that.”
When they broke apart, Asta’s cheeks were flushed. “Us old birds are harder to kill than we look.” She winked at Freya before turning her attention to Abe. “And I see you kept this one.” She wagged a gloved finger at him while throwing Freya an approving look. “Good choice.”
Abe grinned and engulfed Asta in a bear hug, lifting her right off her feet. “Asta, it’s great to see you.” He set her back down with care. “We wanted to thank you in person—for everything. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Asta waved her hand dismissively. “Pshaw. Enough of that. Come inside! You must be tired, hungry. I’ve made a special tea just for your visit.” She headed toward the house, beckoning them to follow.
Abe shot Freya a dubious look. “Special tea?” he murmured, raising an eyebrow. “Can’t wait.”
Freya smothered a laugh, squeezing his hand. “You survived it last time. Just pace yourself.”
With a dramatic sigh and a grin, he lifted her hand to his lips, brushing a kiss across her knuckles. “Anything for you, Duchess. Always.”
53
Six weeks later.
Leo jolted awake. Darkness pressed close, broken only by his breathing and a sliver of moonlight bleeding through a chink in the drapes.
He sat up, cool air pricking his bare chest. His bedside clock’s red digits glowed.
03:30.
His pulse thrummed in his throat. Something had yanked him from sleep, but he didn’t know what. Unease churned in his gut as he crossed to the window. Beyond the glass, the fjord was still, the trees dark sentries at her banks.Too fucking still.
Sleep had become his enemy since returning from England. Even with Freya safe, the data destroyed, the mission a success, something felt unfinished. Various agencies had bristled at the loss of the archive—research that had started with good intentions but had rotted from the inside out. Freya had made the right call destroying it, but lately?
He pressed his palm against the cold glass. Lately, the quiet felt like waiting.
Being in the same room as Kat had stirred up emotions he’d been trying to suppress since they first collided on a shared mission, and since returning to Norway, he’d failed to cage those feelings back in their usual prison.
He padded downstairs to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, welcoming the cold as he drank. It distracted him from the what-could-have-beens that haunted his dreams and left him waking with clutched sheets, his body slick with sweat, his cock iron-hard.
He drained the glass and set it on the drainer, gripping the cold metal edge as his shoulders sagged under an invisible weight.
Solitude was his penance. His team had found love and peace with the incredible women they shared their lives with. But he was well aware such happiness wasn’t on the cards for him. The acts he’d committed had marked his soul—marks that no amount of time could erase.
Yet it didn’t matter how often he reminded himself he was no good for her. Kat was woven into his DNA, and the recent ghost of her perfume, the soft brush of her lips against his cheek in that goodbye kiss, refused to release their grip on his heart.
He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair.
I’m awake now. Might as well do something useful.
Perhaps the monotony of doing his taxes might help him sleep.
The pale glowof motion-sensing lights traced his path through Guardsmen Security’s operations base. At his personal workstation, a nudge of the mouse awakened the three curvedMac displays, their screens casting ethereal blue shadows across his desk.
His pulse stopped.
There, centered on the middle screen: one new message.
From Kat.
The timestamp read 03:30—exactly when he’d woken up twenty minutes ago.